Matt should do something quick before the whole site goes in the toilet from this unimpeded flow....

On a more serious note - am I the only one who notices that when we get decent rains quite a number of norcal cities seem to have sewage "spills" - Napa, Santa Rosa, etc. Seems to me they use this as cover for dumping their excess sewage, then pay a fine that is relatively small compared to the cost of expanding their facilities to handle it properly.

Matt should do something quick before the whole site goes in the toilet from this unimpeded flow....

On a more serious note - am I the only one who notices that when we get decent rains quite a number of norcal cities seem to have sewage "spills" - Napa, Santa Rosa, etc. Seems to me they use this as cover for dumping their excess sewage, then pay a fine that is relatively small compared to the cost of expanding their facilities to handle it properly.

Rainfall usualy stresses the equipment due to small leaks within the system. Also they cannot irragate the wastewater like they do during the summer so theres usualy millions and millions if gallons in storage. I work a lot with smaller septic systems but have been to a lot of plants during my engineering classes. Some places are really lazy about routine maintenance, that could be the issue for this one.

Matt should do something quick before the whole site goes in the toilet from this unimpeded flow....

On a more serious note - am I the only one who notices that when we get decent rains quite a number of norcal cities seem to have sewage "spills" - Napa, Santa Rosa, etc. Seems to me they use this as cover for dumping their excess sewage, then pay a fine that is relatively small compared to the cost of expanding their facilities to handle it properly.

I don't know if this is the case in the cities you mentioned but I do know that many municipalities have antiquated "combined sewer systems." These were usually built about 100 years ago and are designed to carry storm water and sewage to a treatment facility. During periods of heavy rain and runoff, the combined sewage and storm water overwhelms the system are discharged out of combined sewer overflows (CSOs). CSOs are usually in rivers or on shorelines since when they were built it was more of a common practice to use waterways as a vehicle for waste disposal. Also, compared to 100 years ago, there's a lot more pavement and development now, which increases the volume of storm water runoff. Many municipalities are slowly updating these systems but as you can imagine, redoing that type of infrastructure is complex and expensive.

This phenomenon doesn't account for all sewage spills but is more common than you'd expect, especially during heavy rainfall. I've seen CSO's at very low tide (often they're partially or completely submerged) that were so large you could drive a car through them and they really flow when there's a big storm.

Matt should do something quick before the whole site goes in the toilet from this unimpeded flow....

On a more serious note - am I the only one who notices that when we get decent rains quite a number of norcal cities seem to have sewage "spills" - Napa, Santa Rosa, etc. Seems to me they use this as cover for dumping their excess sewage, then pay a fine that is relatively small compared to the cost of expanding their facilities to handle it properly.

I don't know if this is the case in the cities you mentioned but I do know that many municipalities have antiquated "combined sewer systems." These were usually built about 100 years ago and are designed to carry storm water and sewage to a treatment facility. During periods of heavy rain and runoff, the combined sewage and storm water overwhelms the system are discharged out of combined sewer overflows (CSOs). CSOs are usually in rivers or on shorelines since when they were built it was more of a common practice to use waterways as a vehicle for waste disposal. Also, compared to 100 years ago, there's a lot more pavement and development now, which increases the volume of storm water runoff. Many municipalities are slowly updating these systems but as you can imagine, redoing that type of infrastructure is complex and expensive.

This phenomenon doesn't account for all sewage spills but is more common than you'd expect, especially during heavy rainfall. I've seen CSO's at very low tide (often they're partially or completely submerged) that were so large you could drive a car through them and they really flow when there's a big storm.

This is what is actually happening, not some small leaks. Leaks in a sewer system go into the earth not into the water. Most towns have setting ponds that get treatment at their final stage then discharged to a slough or other water way. With an influx of water from storm runoff that exceeds treatment plant holding pond capacity the water effluent makes it way out without being treated. I know this from actually working for a municipal water department.

I live by Ocean Beach in SF and there are two big cement boxes - one at Valencia and the other at Lincoln -- that are about 5' tall and 10' wide that unleash a holy shit storm of overflow during big storms. The entire great highway has a major transfer tube buried under it that carries all the sewage from the west side of the city AND all of the runoff from the streets. The boxes on the beach are the relief valve when the system gets overloaded. Pretty amazing and disgusting sight when it happens.

The Beach is always posted after big storms, but the postings don't last as long because of all the water movement coming in and out of the bay. The spills get dispersed quicker than in Monterey/Carmel, etc.

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